Adderall: Candy for college students?

As a student with ADHD in college I have found that it can be extremely difficult to focus on school work. With assignments spaced out like they are, staying on top of everything becomes complicated, and I often find that I end up waiting till the very last minute to do everything. One solution that has been offered to me has been to go on stimulating medication.

I began taking Adderall and my life became exponentially easier; I stayed on top of my work, I did things well before they were due, I became more social and more confident… I felt like I could do anything. Speaking about this moment and considering that the side effects are so minimal, will make most people believe that there is no reason not to use Adderall. However that would be a mistake to believe. Adderall is one of the most abused drugs in the college world and can lead to serious life problems. Adderall is an amphetamine (yes like meth and cocaine) which works by making your brain release an increased amount of dopamine allowing you to focus more; this is the same effect that hard drugs like cocaine give you. Adderall does make you feel incredible, but you don’t realize what it is actually doing to you. Mentally you reach a point where, unless you are using Adderall, you are unable to do work. You become unsatisfied with the difficulties that come with doing things without its benefits, and you begin to be unable to do anything without its effect. This is called dependency or addiction and it is more common than people think.

Dependent people are always quoted as saying that, “I can stop anytime I want to”, but the fact of the matter is that this is not true. The tunnellike focus the medicines provide has led growing numbers of teenagers and young adults to fake symptoms to obtain steady prescriptions for highly addictive medications that carry serious psychological dangers.

When you graduate from college that need to take Adderall to do things is still going to be there and going forward in your life you are going to have to keep using because by now you are so used to doing everything quickly and efficiently that you can’t go back to doing things in a normal mental state. College students believe that they are invincible against the dangers of drugs like Adderall, but the truth of the matter is that they are not.

My motivation for this article is not to scare users who have ADD or ADHD and have an Adderall prescription, because the truth is that it is very helpful in controlled doses prescribed by a doctor who has taken steps to reduce the likelihood that you receive a negative effect from Adderall.

My motivation for writing this article wasn’t to detail how non-prescribed use of Adderall can be dangerous because I can write volumes upon volumes on the dangers of Adderall and it really wouldn’t affect the decision making of college students, just as telling them about the risks of drinking doesn’t deter them from consuming alcohol.

My motivation to write this article was however to detail the risks of dependency, which is very much real and can be seen in those students that can no longer finish assignments without the help of this drug. My question for you all is whether or not it is worth it as college students to continue taking this drug as a stimulant and helping you through the tough times just to hamstring your future endeavors —a question that is up to you, the reader to decide for his or herself.